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James Wood

Charles R. Keller Professor of History, Emeritus

Biography

Professor Wood has been at Williams since 1973. He was originally trained as a historian of Early Modern France. After two books and many articles in this area he began to develop the history of warfare and the study of specific wars and military operations. He currently offers five different courses in this area and his most recent book was on Japanese Military Strategy in World War II. He also continues long standing interests in the age of exploration and discovery, the expansion of Europe around the world, and general world history. His current research project is a military history of the Spanish Conquistadors in the new world.

Selected Publications

Japanese Military Strategy in the Pacific War (Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2007)

The King’s Army, Warfare, Soldiers and Society During the Early Wars of Religion in France, 1526-76 (Cambridge University Press, 1996). Winner of the 1998 Distinguished Book Award from the Society of Military History,
1998. Precis

The Nobility of the Election of Bayeaux, 1463-1666, Social Continuity and Change Among the Provincial Nobility in Early Modern France (Princeton University Press, 1980).

Research Interests

Early modern Europe, the expansion of Europe, the origins of modern warfare, World Wars I and II, American military history